Driver's perception of time as a factor of road safety

Background. One of the ways to reduce road traffic accident rate is to improve the driver's reliability by training his/her psychophysiological fitness. The most important parameter of human psychophysiology that affects the accuracy of road situation analysis is the perception of time. Aim. The paper aims to determine the features of time perception by drivers depending on their gender, age, general psychophysiological fitness and driving experience. Materials and methods. The results of a survey of 1000 driving school students and 500 professional drivers were used during the study. Participants were divided into four equal age groups of both sexes. The representativeness of a random sample was achieved in accordance with the method of prof. D. Mannheim separately for males and females, as well as for adolescents, young and mature people. The primary indicators were determined using the UPDK-MK Avtomobilny (Neurokom) hardware and software complex for testing the psychophysiological qualities of the driver. The data obtained were presented in the form of distribution of the surveyed according to the level of time perception depending on gender, age, driving experience and the level of psychophysiological fitness. Results. A low level of accuracy of time perception was found in the majority of participants regardless of their age, gender and driving experience. The share of persons with a satisfactory and unsatisfactory level of accuracy averaged 61% among driving school students and 56% among professional drivers, practically regardless of age. Psychophysiological fitness was of significant importance: in persons with a high level of it, the “very good” mark for the accuracy of time perception was 2.5 times higher. Conclusion. To improve the perception of time by a person and to increase road safety, it is necessary to intentionally train general psychophysiological fitness of a person and his/her perception of time.